Shedeur Sanders led the Cleveland Browns to an impression 30-10 preseason victory over the Carolina Panthers on Friday night yet despite his strong statistical performance, he was unsatisfied and went as far as to apologize to his father.
The 144th overall pick of the 2025 NFL Draft completed 14 of 23 passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns, adding 23 rushing yards but found himself not completely happy with his outing on August 8.
Setting up two scores with Kaden Davis, he passed with his characteristic accuracy and showed no signs of being overwhelmed as he took his first professional snaps in a competitive game.
But he wasn’t entirely happy so why has he made to sure to say sorry to his father, the Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, who coached him at the Colorado Buffaloes in the NCAA?
“Sorry pops, I didn’t do what I was supposed to do fully,” Sanders said in a postgame interview, referring to his father’s advice to “take advantage of the opportunity” as he graded his performance no more than a C+.
“I would say definitely getting to that rhythm early,” Shedeur continued. “That’s something I’ve been working on even since college.
“So, we can’t… start out throwing 0 and 1 off rip, because then you go in the hole and you got to get back out the hole.”
Has Sanders put himself into the starter conversation after Browns win?
If producing nearly 150 yards, two scores and a pass completion rate of 60.8% is only a lukewarm performance by the 23-year-old’s standards then the Browns have found themselves quite a quarterback for the season ahead.
A seven-yard strike to Davis in the back corner of the end zone was the first score, before he set the receiver up once again towards the end of the half with a 12-yard touchdown.
Across nearly three quarters of play, he led a disciplined Cleveland offense that capitalized on opportunities and maintained control of the game and proved the pressure wasn’t getting to him.
So with an uncertain quarterback room consisting of Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, Dillon Gabriel and Ty Huntley, has Sanders moved up in the depth chart after the outing? His head coach remained coy.
“Pleased with Shedeur, pleased with the offense,” Kevin Stefanski told reporters. “Again, not perfect. Plenty that we can work on.
“We’re really just focused on developing our players. We’re in evaluation mode… I’m not diving into a quarterback competition.”
For Sanders, the evening marked both a personal milestone and a reminder of the NFL’s unforgiving standards. He’ll now look to see if he can take any snaps against the defending champions, the Philadelphia Eagles, on August 16.
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